The Submerging Golden Dragon Ritual 投金龙玉璧仪

Author unknown.

It was probably composed during the Tang Dynasty in the Kaiyuan reign period of Emperor Xuanzong.

This text was not included in the Zhengtong Daozang (Orthodox Taoist Canon), which is the core collection of Daozang.

Preserved as the Dunhuang manuscript P2354, it is incomplete with both the beginning and the end missing, retaining only more than 50 lines. The original text had no title; Shinji Ohuchi named it The Ritual of Casting Golden Dragons and Jade Tablets based on its content in his Catalog of Taoist Texts from Dunhuang.

Casting golden dragons and jade tablets was an early Taoist retreat ritual, which is affiliated with the ritual system of the Lingbao Sect. When conducting sacrifices and retreats, Taoist priests would cast these artifacts into renowned mountains, river abodes, seas, or peaks, praying to divine spirits to redeem suffering souls, sever the roots of sin, stabilize the state, and ward off plagues and evil forces. The manuscript mentions: "Now the Merit Academy has compiled and finalized the etiquette and regulations for the dragon-casting memorial sacrifice; one copy of the ritual for casting dragon tablets shall be kept in each prefecture." From this, it can be concluded that this ritual was compiled by the official authorities of the Tang Dynasty.