The Calendar of Master Chisong’s Memorials 赤松子章历

The original text does not record its author.

According to the research in A Catalogue of Taoist Scriptures, co-compiled by Shinji Obuchi and Masako Ishii, this text should have been compiled by Taoist priests during the Tang Dynasty.

The original number of scrolls remains unknown. The existing version in the Daoist Canon, though incomplete, consists of six scrolls and is included in the category of Memorial Texts in the Dongshen Section (the Section of Cave Spirits).

This book expounds the rituals and methods of writing talismans and presenting memorials to heaven as practiced in Celestial Master Taoism during the Han, Wei, and Southern-Northern Dynasties. The first two scrolls list the ritual implements required for the ceremonies of writing talismans and submitting memorials, as well as the corresponding procedures, along with matters such as selecting auspicious days, invoking celestial officials, practicing visualization meditation, observing taboos, and abiding by precepts. The remaining four scrolls contain sixty-seven types of memorial texts (three hundred types were included in the original version). These include memorials for alleviating national disasters, such as Memorial for Ending Drought and Memorial for Stopping Rain; memorials for delivering oneself from troubles, such as Memorial for Breaking Curses and Memorial for Warding Off Three Calamities; memorials for healing relatives, such as Memorial for Assisting Childbirth and Memorial for Protecting Infants; and memorials for delivering the souls of deceased ancestors, such as Memorial for the Underworld and Memorial for Declaring Merits on Behalf of the Deceased.

All the ritual protocols and memorial texts recorded in this book are claimed to have been imparted by the Supreme Lord to Heavenly Master Zhang at Heming Mountain at the end of the Han Dynasty. It is believed that if Taoist priests write the memorials in accordance with the prescribed methods, prepare the required ritual tokens, and submit the memorials to the celestial bureaucracy, the Supreme Lord and other celestial worthies will be informed, thereby dispelling disasters and overcoming adversities.

This text serves as an important source for studying the talisman-writing and memorial-presenting rituals of early Celestial Master Taoism.