The Supreme Three-Five Zhengyi Alliance and Might Talismans
Author unknown. Compiled approximately between the late Eastern Han Dynasty and the Wei-Jin period.
Daoist scriptures of the Celestial Master Daoism from the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Sui and Tang dynasties all record that in the first year of the Han’an era of Emperor Shun of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Supreme Lord Dao transmitted the “Way of Zhengyi Alliance and Might” to Zhang Daoling in Shu Commandery.
Though this account cannot be fully verified, there is no doubt that this text is an early talisman scripture of Celestial Master Daoism, which had already been compiled into a book by the Northern and Southern Dynasties at the latest. The original number of scrolls remains unknown.
The existing version in the Daoist Canon consists of six scrolls and is included in the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Section.
The text compiles twenty-four ranks of talismans, including the Talisman of Boy Generals, the Talisman of Three-Five Merit Administrators, and the Talisman of Protecting Life and Longevity, which correspond to the Four Seasons, the Five Elements, the Twelve Months, the Twenty-Four Solar Terms, the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions, and the Twenty-Four Sees, among others. The content of the talismans in each section is roughly similar, each listing the names of various divine generals, officials and soldiers, talisman diagrams, and alliance rituals, which are used to summon deities, expel ghosts, and protect one’s family and person.
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