Shangqing Scripture of Stabilizing Spirits 上清镇元荣灵经

Author unknown.

It was presumably compiled between the Tang and Song dynasties.

Both the Secret Catalogue of the Southern Song Dynasty and the Bibliographic Outline in Tong zhi record "One Volume of the Scripture of Laozi Stabilizing the Origin and Nourishing the Spirits", which is suspected to be this very text.

Shangqing Scripture of Stabilizing Spirits

The existing version in The Daozang is a single volume, included in the Methods Category of The Dongshen Section.

The scripture is falsely attributed to being imparted by the Supreme Lord to the Immortal Duke (Ge Xuan), with its contents all focusing on Taoist Talismans and magical arts. It opens with the Seven Star Talisman, used to pray to the various stars of the Big Dipper, summon true immortals and communicate with the spiritual realm, expel ghosts and dispel misfortune. In addition, it contains the Pestilence Sending God Talisman for curing illnesses; the Celestial Strategy Talisman for divination; the God Summoning Talisman for subduing ghosts; the Wilderness Talisman for searching for tombs; the Thief Binding Talisman for arresting robbers; and the Spirit and Monster Talisman for taming supernatural beings. There are also the Gambling Talisman, the Mountain Entering Talisman, the Wood Release Talisman, the Immortal Accepting Talisman, the Clarity of Sight Talisman, the Heavenly Jia Talisman, the Earthly Jia Talisman, the Human Jia Talisman, the Ghost and God Enslaving Talisman, the Black and White Twin Talismans, and many more, all rooted in the doctrines of the Five Elements school.