The Shangqing Supreme Yellow Silk Forty-Four Prescriptions Scripture
The Shangqing Supreme Yellow Silk Forty-Four Prescriptions Scripture (Shangqing Taishang Huangsu Sishisi Fang Jing) is one of the early classics of the Shangqing School, presumably dating back to the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317–420 CE).
Volume 5 of Zhengao (The True Declarations) states: "In the Dao, there are forty-four essential instructions of the Yellow Silk Divine Prescriptions"; the Catalogue of the Shangqing Great Grottoes True Scripture (Shangqing Dadong Zhenjing Mu) records the entry "One Scroll of the Shangqing Supreme Yellow Silk Forty-Four Prescriptions"—both references refer to this text.
The surviving version today is included in the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Section of the Daozang (Taoist Canon).
Works such as Wushang Miyao (The Supreme Secret Essentials) and Yunji Qiqian (The Seven Lots of the Cloud Satchel) also extensively quote from this scripture.
Falsely attributed to being compiled by various deities under the order of the Supreme Lord of the Dao (Taishang Daojun), the scripture is divided into more than forty sections.
It primarily discusses methods for Taoist practitioners to recite and study various Shangqing scriptures, transmit scriptures, and cultivate the Dao. The Dao cultivation practices covered include "preserving the spirit" (cunshen), reciting incantations, nourishing life (health preservation), "breath regulation" (tuna, Taoist breathing technique), worshipping divine beings, fasting, and offering rituals (jiao).
It is claimed that if practitioners use these methods to cultivate their bodies, they will certainly achieve divine efficacy.
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