The Imperially Commissioned Liturgical Codes 大明玄教立成斋醮仪

Compiled by Fan Mingsong, Zong Zhenzhen, Zhao Yunzhong and others by imperial order.

Consisting of one scroll, it is included in The Daozang (Taoist Canon), under the Ritual Category of the Dongxuan Section.

The opening of the scroll contains the Imperially Composed Preface to the Taoist Ritual Texts for Fasts and Offerings dated the seventh year of the Hongwu reign period (1374). It states that in the early Ming Dynasty, both Buddhism and Taoism held numerous rituals for funeral services of officials and commoners, which wasted financial resources and exhausted people’s energy. Therefore, the imperial court ordered "the Ministry of Rites to convene monks and Taoists to formulate standardized ritual formats for Buddhism and Taoism, and promulgate them nationwide". The book first lists the procedures for a three-day salvation ritual for the deceased, followed by the outlines of one-day-and-night and one-day rituals. Next, it details the ritual texts for the three-day salvation ritual, including incantations, spoken prayers, gathas, hymns, odes, scripture catalogs, and repentance memorials.

Compared with various fasting rituals compiled since the Song and Yuan dynasties, the procedures of these rituals are greatly simplified.