The Celestial August Jade Annotated Canon 高上玉皇本行经集注

Referred to in short as Collected Annotations on the Imperial Scripture (Huangjing Jizhu). Compiled by Zhou Xuanzhen, a Quanzhen Taoist priest of the Ming Dynasty.

It comprises ten scrolls and is included in the Supplementary Taoist Canon (Xu Daozang).

This book is a compiled annotated version of the Scripture of the Original Deeds of the Jade Emperor, bringing together annotations from scholars of the Song, Jin, Yuan and Ming dynasties, among which some are falsely attributed to immortals. The first scroll compiles around thirty prefaces by various authors and textual research on the scripture’s meanings, and also records the rituals of scripture recitation and obeisance. Scrolls two to ten consist of annotations on the scripture text. The entire book divides the five sections of the Jade Emperor Scripture into 108 chapters, providing annotations chapter by chapter. Its annotations draw on the teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, adhering generally to the tenet that “the three teachings share one underlying principle, and nature and the Dao are inseparable”, and extolling the Jade Emperor Scripture as the fundamental classic of the three teachings. It proclaims that “the Primordial Celestial Worthy is the leader of the three teachings, and the Jade Emperor is the ancestor of all dharmas”; and that “no words of the three teachings surpass those of the Imperial Scripture”. The book repeatedly expounds on the efficacious merits of reciting the Imperial Scripture, eulogizing the Jade Emperor as “the teacher of all heavens and the king of all sages”; it asserts that mortals who reverently recite this scripture will surely obtain blessings, be able to preserve their lives and ward off disasters, and bring peace to the state.

This is a book for Taoist priests to propagate religious teachings through divine means.