The Supreme National Apotropaic Scripture 太上洞神天公消魔护国经

Author unknown, seemingly compiled during the Song and Yuan dynasties.

It consists of three scrolls and is included in the Scriptures of the Cave Spirits section, Original Texts category of the Daoist Canon.

The scripture is divided into three fascicles.

The first, Fascicle of Salvation and Deliverance, fictitiously depicts dialogues between the Primordial Lord of Heaven and the Perfected One of Boundless Nothingness. It exhorts believers to concentrate their minds in sincere prayer, recite and propagate this scripture, and invoke legions of divine beings—including the Generals of Three-and-Five, the Divine Officers of Six-and-Six, and countless other immortals—to rescue all from calamities and attain boundless blessings.

The second, Fascicle of Responsive Awakening, is framed as answers given by Lord Lao to his disciple Yin Xi. It expounds on the revered scriptures of the Three Caverns, the Three Pure Ones, the Nine Heavenly Emperors, the Thirty-Two Celestial Rulers, and the Twenty-Seven Types of Fasts. It urges practitioners to “attain enlightenment through the scripture, wear talismans to dispel evil, observe fasts to align with the true way, and cultivate the Dao to refine one’s conduct”.

The third, Fascicle of Governance and Sovereignty, also adopts the form of dialogues between Lord Lao and Yin Xi. It states that human affairs mirror the order of heaven and earth: just as the Jade Emperor rules over the Three Realms in the heavens, emperors on earth establish civil and military officialdoms to govern the mortal realm. It exhorts all mortals to “revere the Dao with wholehearted sincerity, hold deep respect for heaven, earth, parents, sun, moon, and stars; obey the Heavenly Emperor above, allocate earthly resources below; practice paternal kindness and filial piety, fraternal harmony and deference; be loyal as ministers, and virtuous as emperors”.