The Tai Shang Dong Yuan Shen Zhou Jing 太上洞渊神咒经

Referred to in short as The Cavern Abyss Scripture.

Compiled under the claim of being descended and imparted by the Supreme Lord of the Dao by the Jin Dynasty Taoist priest Wang Zuan, it was roughly completed between the late Eastern Jin Dynasty and the early Liu Song Dynasty.

The original text consists of 10 volumes, with a Tang Dynasty manuscript from Dunhuang dating back to the first year of the Lindé reign period of Emperor Gaozong of Tang.

There is also a 20-volume version included in the Daozang (Taoist Canon), where the first 10 volumes are the ancient text from the Six Dynasties, and the latter 10 volumes were supplemented by Taoist priests in the mid-to-late Tang Dynasty, classified under the Original Texts category of the Cavern Mysterious Section.

At the beginning of the compilation is a preface by the late Tang Taoist priest Du Guangting, which states that at the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, the Central Plains fell into chaos and separation, with famines and plagues prevalent.

Wang Zuan, a Taoist priest at Maji Mountain in Jintan, sent a memorial to heaven from his quiet chamber, which moved the Supreme Lord of the Dao to descend. The Lord imparted The Scripture of Divine Incantations and the secrets of the Three and Five Grand Fasts to Wang Zuan, ordering him to act in accordance with them to save and protect all people.

Influenced by apocryphal texts and Buddhist kalpa (eon/calamity) thought, the scripture proclaims that in the last age of the Great Jin or in the final year of a sixty-year Jiazi cycle, various evil ghosts and demon kings will descend to the mortal world, leading to invasions by the six barbarian tribes, widespread plagues, and the people of China suffering from wars, punishments, prisons, and floods.

In such times, only by believing in Taoism, enshrining and supporting the classic, inviting Taoist masters to report to heaven, summoning gods and incanting against ghosts, and eliminating plague toxins can disasters and illnesses be averted.

The scripture also declares that a "True Lord" will transform and descend to the world to save all people.

The True Lord is none other than Muzi Gongkou (Li Hong), who will bring great peace and order to the world, free from the disasters of wars, punishments, and prisons, ensuring that the people live in abundance, joy, and longevity, without poverty or illness. This reflects the traditional Taoist methods of early Heavenly Master Taoism, which propagated prophecies of a peaceful world and cured diseases and averted disasters through talisman water and incantations.

Folk Taoist leaders during the Six Dynasties, Sui, and Tang dynasties, influenced by this scripture, often used the prophecy of Li Hong’s advent to call on the people to launch uprisings. The additional 10 volumes added by Cavern Abyss Sect Taoists in the Tang Dynasty focused more on the arts of subduing demons and incanting against ghosts, and further propagated the virtue of the great Dao in assisting the state and educating the people, which was not entirely consistent with the doctrines of early Heavenly Master Taoism.