Master Lu’s Outline of Taoist Clerical Systems (Lu Xian Sheng Dao Men Ke Lüe) was compiled by Lu Xiujing, a Taoist priest of the Liu-Song Dynasty during the Southern Dynasties.
This book elaborates on the system of "establishing preceptories and appointing official positions" practiced by Celestial Master Taoism during the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties, a framework for governing Taoist believers through Taoist officials and sacrificial wine-officiants.
It is stated that this system was formulated by Zhang Daoling, the Orthodox Unity Celestial Master, to subdue hordes of ghosts, prohibit unauthorized shrines, and assist in governing the times and guiding moral transformation.
All Taoist households were required to register their families in official rolls, participate in three annual assemblies to verify household registrations and population records, remove the names of the deceased and add those of newborns, and submit mingxin (tribute tokens of allegiance).
Based on these records, Taoist masters would report to the celestial bureaucracy, praying for heavenly gods to protect the homes of Taoist believers and ward off disasters and misfortunes. The text also specifies that there were established regulations and codes governing the appointment, promotion, and ritual attire of Celestial Master Taoism’s wine-officiants and Taoist officials.
After receiving talismans, Taoist believers who accumulated sufficient merits could be promoted in sequence from talisman clerks to sanqi Taoist priests, biezhi Taoist officials, xiazhi Taoist officials, peizhi Taoist officials, as well as officials of the Lower Eight Preceptories, Middle Eight Preceptories, and Upper Eight Preceptories. Only those who reached the highest rank were eligible to be appointed to the official positions of the three principal preceptories: Yangping, Lutang, and Heming. Taoist ritual robes, similar to the court robes of the secular world, followed a five-rank hierarchy, and these regulations must not be violated or disrupted.
This book holds significant reference value for the study of the organizational systems of early Celestial Master Taoism.
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