The Dong Shen Ba Di Yuan Bian Jing 洞神八帝元变经

The author is unknown. It was probably compiled during the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

The Catalog of the Great Treasure of Diagrams and Scriptures records a text titled "The Scripture of the Mysterious Transformations of the Eight Emperors in three volumes", which refers to this very work.

The existing version in the Daozang (Taoist Canon) is consolidated into one volume and included in the Zhengyi Section.

The scripture is prefaced by an author’s self-written introduction, stating that in the first year of the Yongping era of the Wei Dynasty (508 CE), an immortal imparted to Liu Zhu the art of summoning and commanding the Eight Emperors. Later, the monk Huizong compiled a text to pass it down to the world, but its content was sketchy.

The author researched this text thoroughly, consulted esteemed elders of the tradition, obtained the essential secrets of this art, and thus expanded it into the present book.

The entire text is divided into fifteen chapters, expounding the art of summoning and commanding the Eight Great Ghost Gods to predict good and ill fortune. The scripture claims that the Eight Great Ghost Gods are all assistant officials of the Southern Dipper and gods of the enumerated constellations; each travels throughout the mortal world on their assigned astrological days, safeguarding those who study the Dao, keeping them away from misfortune and granting them blessings.

The book includes a chapter titled Outline and Catalog, which summarizes the core tenets of practicing this art; and a chapter titled Divine Portraits and Functions, which lists the portraits, names, official duties, headwear and robes of the Eight Great Ghost Gods.

The remaining thirteen chapters respectively describe the spells, taboos and efficacies of summoning and commanding the Eight Great Ghost Gods.