The Celestial Saintly Deeds Chronicle FULL NAME IS
The Xuantian Shangdi Qisheng Lu (Records of Xuantian Shangdi's Manifestation and Sagehood)
The original text does not specify its author. Judging from the content, it was presumably compiled byTaoist priests of Wudang Mountain during the Yuan Dynasty.
Consisting of eight volumes, it is included in the Biographies Category of theThe Dongshen SectionwithinThe Daozang.
The first volume recounts the story of Xuantian Shangdi’s (i.e.,Zhenwu) incarnation and cultivation to become a true immortal. It states that Xuantian Shangdi was transformed from the Primordial Qi of the Beginning. During the reign of the Yellow Emperor, he was reincarnated as a prince of the Pure Joy Kingdom, endowed with divine intelligence from birth. Later, he abdicated the throne, encountered the Purple Yuan Goddess who taught him the Supreme Dao of the Infinite, and cultivated at Taihe Mountain (now Wudang Mountain) in Junzhou. After achieving enlightenment and ascending to immortality, he was ordered by the Heavenly Lord to subdue demons and evil spirits.
Volumes 2 to 8 mainly record stories ofZhenwu’s spiritual responses during the Song Dynasty. It is stated that Emperor Taizu of Song built the Shrine of the Seven Yuan Stars and Four Holy Ones in Yingzhou, and Zhenwuresponded to the invocation, assisting the Song Dynasty in unifying the whole country. It also claims thatZhenwudescended to earth to assist Di Qing in pacifying the Western and Southern Barbarians, and that Emperor Renzong of Song built a Xuantian Shangdi Shrine in the imperial palace, among other events.
These records reflect the fact thatZhenwuwas widely venerated during the Song Dynasty. Additionally, the book also documents the miracles of Xuantian Shangdi and the Taoist temples, shrines, and palaces on Wudang Mountain during the Song and Yuan dynasties.
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